Lucifer Hummingbird

About the Lucifer Hummingbird

A specialty of the Texas desert and one of the great prizes of Big Bend, the Lucifer Hummingbird is a small, slender gem with a distinctly down-curved bill. The male flashes a long, flaring magenta-purple gorget and a forked tail; the female is buffy below with a curved bill and pale face. It is tied to the blooms of desert plants, especially agave and ocotillo.

Lucifers hover and probe at those tubular desert flowers for nectar and glean small insects, and the male performs a swooping display flight before a perched female.

In the United States the species barely reaches beyond the Big Bend region of West Texas, where it is a scarce, sought-after warm-season breeder of the arid, agave-clad slopes and canyons - the reason many hummingbird chasers make the trip.

A note from behind the lens: work the agave and ocotillo blooms the birds are visiting, and be patient at a favored flower. Catch the male mid-hover with light raking across the gorget and that purple erupts against the desert.